Racial disparities in the small business loan market
利用1998年美国小企业金融调查和考夫曼企业调查数据，研究发现黑人和白人企业家在中等信用风险类别中存在贷款批准率差异，而在最优和最差类别中无差异，并用统计歧视模型解释这一现象。
We investigate patterns of racial bias in small business loans denial rates in the US across different credit risk scores. Using data constructed from the 1998 Survey of Small Business Finances and Kauffman Firm Survey, we find disparities in loan approval ratings between Black and White entrepreneurs in intermediate risk categories, but not for the best and worst categories. We explain these findings with a simple and generalizable statistical discrimination model where banks hold prior beliefs of repayment probability based on the applicant’s group and observe noisy signals of creditworthiness. Our model predicts that differences in loan denial rates across groups are more pronounced at middle range values and disappear at very high and very low credit scores. Identifying the likely cause of differential treatment in the market is an important first step in improving representation of minority groups as entrepreneurs. Our findings contribute to this critical effort by delineating the nature of racial bias in the credit market and informing remediation policies.